Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 561,426 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 10,651 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $81,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $15,303,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,236 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $4.41 on Friday, hitting $170.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,292,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,989,010. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $156.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.14. The firm has a market cap of $136.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.